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Exodus 4
New American Standard Bible
Exodus 4
New American Standard Bible
Moses Given Signs
4 Then Moses said, “What if they will not believe me or (A)listen [a]to what I say? For they may say, ‘(B)The Lord has not appeared to you.’” 2 The Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?” And he said, “(C)A staff.” 3 Then He said, “Throw it on the ground.” So he threw it on the ground, and (D)it turned into a serpent; and Moses fled from it. 4 But the Lord said to Moses, “Reach out with your hand and grasp it by its tail”—so he reached out with his hand and caught it, and it turned into a staff in his [b]hand— 5 “so that (E)they may believe that (F)the Lord, the God of their fathers, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, has appeared to you.”
6 The Lord furthermore said to him, “Now put your hand inside the fold of your robe.” So he put his hand inside the fold, and when he took it out, behold, his hand was (G)leprous like snow. 7 Then He said, “Put your hand inside the fold of your robe again.” So he put his hand into the fold again, and when he took it out of the fold, behold, (H)it was restored like the rest of his flesh. 8 “So if they will not believe you nor [c]pay attention to the [d]evidence of the first [e]sign, they may believe the [f]evidence of the last [g]sign. 9 But if they will not believe even these two [h]signs nor pay attention to what you say, then you shall take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground; and the water which you take from the Nile (I)will turn into blood on the dry ground.”
10 Then Moses said to the Lord, “Please, Lord, (J)I have never been [i]eloquent, neither [j]recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am [k]slow of speech and [l]slow of tongue.” 11 But the Lord said to him, “Who has made the human mouth? Or (K)who makes anyone unable to speak or deaf, or able to see or blind? Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now then go, and (L)I Myself will be with your mouth, and (M)instruct you in what you are to say.” 13 But he said, “Please, Lord, now send the message by [m]whomever You will.”
Aaron to Be Moses’ Mouthpiece
14 Then the anger of the Lord burned against Moses, and He said, “Is there not your brother Aaron the Levite? I know that [n]he speaks fluently. And moreover, behold, (N)he is coming out to meet you; when he sees you, he will be [o]overjoyed. 15 So you are to speak to him and (O)put the words in his mouth; and I Myself will be with your mouth and his mouth, and I will instruct you in what you are to do. 16 (P)He shall speak for you to the people; and he will be as a mouth for you and you will be as God to him. 17 And you shall take in your hand (Q)this staff, (R)with which you shall perform the signs.”
18 Then Moses departed and returned to (S)his father-in-law [p]Jethro, and said to him, “Please, let me go, that I may return to my brothers who are in Egypt, and see if they are still alive.” And Jethro said to Moses, “Go in peace.” 19 Now the Lord said to Moses in Midian, “Go [q]back to Egypt, for (T)all the men who were seeking your life are dead.” 20 So Moses took his wife and his (U)sons and mounted them on a donkey, and returned to the land of Egypt. Moses also took the (V)staff of God in his hand.
21 And the Lord said to Moses, “When you go [r]back to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all (W)the wonders which I have put in your [s]power; but (X)I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go. 22 Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: “(Y)Israel is My son, My firstborn. 23 So I said to you, ‘(Z)Let My son go so that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, (AA)I am going to kill your son, your firstborn.”’”
24 But it came about at the overnight encampment on the way, that the Lord met [t]Moses, and (AB)sought to put him to death. 25 So Zipporah took (AC)a flint and cut off her son’s foreskin and [u]threw it at Moses’ feet; and she said, “You are indeed a groom of blood to me!” 26 So He left him alone. At that time she said, “You are a groom of blood”—[v]because of the circumcision.
27 (AD)Now the Lord said to Aaron, “Go to meet Moses in the wilderness.” So he went and met him at the (AE)mountain of God and kissed him. 28 (AF)Moses told Aaron all the words of the Lord with which He had sent him, and (AG)all the signs that He had commanded him to do. 29 Then Moses and Aaron went and (AH)assembled all the elders of the sons of Israel; 30 and (AI)Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. He then performed the (AJ)signs in the sight of the people. 31 So (AK)the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord [w](AL)was concerned about the sons of Israel and that He had seen their affliction, (AM)they bowed low and worshiped.
Footnotes
- Exodus 4:1 Lit to my voice
- Exodus 4:4 Lit palm
- Exodus 4:8 Lit listen to
- Exodus 4:8 Lit voice
- Exodus 4:8 I.e., confirming miracle
- Exodus 4:8 Lit voice
- Exodus 4:8 I.e., confirming miracle
- Exodus 4:9 I.e., confirming miracles
- Exodus 4:10 Lit a man of words
- Exodus 4:10 Lit yesterday
- Exodus 4:10 Lit heavy
- Exodus 4:10 Lit heavy
- Exodus 4:13 Lit the hand You send
- Exodus 4:14 Lit speaking he speaks
- Exodus 4:14 Lit joyful in his heart
- Exodus 4:18 Heb Jether
- Exodus 4:19 Lit return
- Exodus 4:21 Lit to return
- Exodus 4:21 Lit hand
- Exodus 4:24 Lit him
- Exodus 4:25 Lit made it touch at his feet
- Exodus 4:26 Lit with reference to
- Exodus 4:31 Lit had visited
Exodus 4
New International Version
Exodus 4
New International Version
Signs for Moses
4 Moses answered, “What if they do not believe me or listen(A) to me and say, ‘The Lord did not appear to you’?”
2 Then the Lord said to him, “What is that in your hand?”
“A staff,”(B) he replied.
3 The Lord said, “Throw it on the ground.”
Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake,(C) and he ran from it. 4 Then the Lord said to him, “Reach out your hand and take it by the tail.” So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 “This,” said the Lord, “is so that they may believe(D) that the Lord, the God of their fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has appeared to you.”
6 Then the Lord said, “Put your hand inside your cloak.” So Moses put his hand into his cloak, and when he took it out, the skin was leprous[a]—it had become as white as snow.(E)
7 “Now put it back into your cloak,” he said. So Moses put his hand back into his cloak, and when he took it out, it was restored,(F) like the rest of his flesh.
8 Then the Lord said, “If they do not believe(G) you or pay attention to the first sign,(H) they may believe the second. 9 But if they do not believe these two signs or listen to you, take some water from the Nile and pour it on the dry ground. The water you take from the river will become blood(I) on the ground.”
10 Moses said to the Lord, “Pardon your servant, Lord. I have never been eloquent, neither in the past nor since you have spoken to your servant. I am slow of speech and tongue.”(J)
11 The Lord said to him, “Who gave human beings their mouths? Who makes them deaf or mute?(K) Who gives them sight or makes them blind?(L) Is it not I, the Lord? 12 Now go;(M) I will help you speak and will teach you what to say.”(N)
13 But Moses said, “Pardon your servant, Lord. Please send someone else.”(O)
14 Then the Lord’s anger burned(P) against Moses and he said, “What about your brother, Aaron the Levite? I know he can speak well. He is already on his way to meet(Q) you, and he will be glad to see you. 15 You shall speak to him and put words in his mouth;(R) I will help both of you speak and will teach you what to do. 16 He will speak to the people for you, and it will be as if he were your mouth(S) and as if you were God to him.(T) 17 But take this staff(U) in your hand(V) so you can perform the signs(W) with it.”
Moses Returns to Egypt
18 Then Moses went back to Jethro his father-in-law and said to him, “Let me return to my own people in Egypt to see if any of them are still alive.”
Jethro said, “Go, and I wish you well.”
19 Now the Lord had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all those who wanted to kill(X) you are dead.(Y)” 20 So Moses took his wife and sons,(Z) put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff(AA) of God in his hand.
21 The Lord said to Moses, “When you return to Egypt, see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders(AB) I have given you the power to do. But I will harden his heart(AC) so that he will not let the people go.(AD) 22 Then say to Pharaoh, ‘This is what the Lord says: Israel is my firstborn son,(AE) 23 and I told you, “Let my son go,(AF) so he may worship(AG) me.” But you refused to let him go; so I will kill your firstborn son.’”(AH)
24 At a lodging place on the way, the Lord met Moses[b] and was about to kill(AI) him. 25 But Zipporah(AJ) took a flint knife, cut off her son’s foreskin(AK) and touched Moses’ feet with it.[c] “Surely you are a bridegroom of blood to me,” she said. 26 So the Lord let him alone. (At that time she said “bridegroom of blood,” referring to circumcision.)
27 The Lord said to Aaron, “Go into the wilderness to meet Moses.” So he met Moses at the mountain(AL) of God and kissed(AM) him. 28 Then Moses told Aaron everything the Lord had sent him to say, and also about all the signs he had commanded him to perform.
29 Moses and Aaron brought together all the elders(AN) of the Israelites, 30 and Aaron told them everything the Lord had said to Moses. He also performed the signs(AO) before the people, 31 and they believed.(AP) And when they heard that the Lord was concerned(AQ) about them and had seen their misery,(AR) they bowed down and worshiped.(AS)
Footnotes
- Exodus 4:6 The Hebrew word for leprous was used for various diseases affecting the skin.
- Exodus 4:24 Hebrew him
- Exodus 4:25 The meaning of the Hebrew for this clause is uncertain.
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